It was a pretty standard interview. Spoke with the HR person on the phone for about 30 minutes. I was told that he doesn't look at resumes because some people are bad at writing them and that I should describe myself instead. I then talked at a later date with a couple of the technical folks and answered specific implementation questions. After this I met with the boss for a relatively informal personality type interview. He also did not want to see a resume. I got the feeling they were looking for people that fit the 'friendly team player' category ( I was a bit at a loss as to what the questions where getting at in all honesty though). The company is in the process of going from start-up to mid-size company which seems to be straining them, several of the technical folks seemed a little overwhelmed/stressed by the demands on them. They were enthused to talk about what they were working on though. Some people were unsure of the role I would be filling if hired which maybe indicates that manpower is an issue. I was told that they provide offers upfront based on salary survey they do themselves. They said that salaries are set at 60% of the range and are non negotiable. The reasoning was that this is supposed to improve diversity. I guess by decreasing the number of 'overpaid' folks that agree to interview and thus getting the 'good but underpaid people'. It is certainly an effective cost cutting measure, but at the expense of losing folks who can command market rate. Unfortunately, even though I am a member of an under-represented group the offer was a huge paycut. I would say it was 20% below average for the skill set asked for. I would be worried about high turnover or a disproportionate number single new-grads so ultimately it didn't sound like the place for me.

I applied online after meeting a company rep at a job fair. Their recruiter got back with me and requested a time for us to meet and talk over coffee. He was pleasant enough in the interview and spent a good deal of time telling me about what a great company TransLoc is to work for. He asked about my career leading up to my interest in the company. As I described myself, arguably a Jr. level developer, I asked him directly if there were a place in the company for someone with my experience level. His answer was that it depends on the results of the code challenge - there are developers with 6-months of experience who do really well and ones with 6 years who flail - their decision is chiefly based on that. He also talked at length about the company's commitment to diversity and the ways that they are addressing the lack thereof as a company. It all sounded fantastic, like a company I would be really excited to work for, doing work that will truly have a positive impact in the world. As we left the conversation, he said that he would send me the code challenge and be in touch with next steps that afternoon. He never sent me any further communication. The next morning (granted, it was Saturday - I didn't expect a response until Monday) I sent an email thanking him for his time and asking about the code challenge that I didn't get. When I still hadn't heard anything by Tuesday, I sent another email asking if something had gone wrong that I wasn't aware of. I haven't heard anything else from him or the company. I know he wasn't hit by a bus or the like because he showed up on my LinkedIn as having viewed my profile after the interview. As a developer who has less experience, but who is only going to get more and who one day could be an ideal match for this company, I will never consider working with them again. The way companies treat prospective hires speaks loudly about how they treat employees and this recruiter's behavior was poor. All the talk about what a great company it is seems to be nothing but lip service. I felt very disrespected by him and am still frustrated by the process.